Swarm pet
A swarm pet is a pet, capable of attacking, which does not use the pet window and disappears (despawns) after a specified length of time. Swarm pets are primarily a feature of mid- and high-level gameplay, as the earliest abilities that summon them come in the level 61-65 range. As with other kinds of pets, their strength and strategic impact vary widely. Generally speaking, "pet classes" like the magician, beastlord, and necromancer have more (and more potent) swarm pet abilities than others do, along with having more ways to make their swarm pets stronger through AA investment. All swarm pets are summoned by spells or abilities that require a target, and that target must be a valid target for offensive abilities or else the ability will fail. Once the ability is successfully cast, the pet (or pets) will appear, and they will immediately begin attempting to attack the target of the spell that summoned them. Mechanics of the pets themselves are discussed below. Characteristics Swarm pets summoned by players have all of the following characteristics: *They come into existence hating the target of the ability that summoned them, and only that target. Creatures that attack or cast detrimental abilities on either the pet or its master will be added to the pet's hate list. *They cannot be given pet commands, and any toggled orders (Hold, Regroup, etc.) that may be affecting the master's permanent pet will have no influence on swarm pet behavior. *If they run out of targets on their hate list, they will begin following their master around until their time expires or until a new target gets on their hate list. *They are affected by auras radiated from players or pets in the same group. *They are NOT affected by other forms of group-targeted spells (buffs or healing), even if the master has Pet Affinity. *They are affected by passive AAs that improve pets' performance in combat. (For example, classes with AAs that passively allow their permanent pet to flurry or score critical hits will find that their swarm pets gain the same benefits.) *Their summoning is not restricted by the master having other pets in play. (That is, they can be freely summoned even if the master already has a permanent pet or other swarm pets.) *They are lost after their time expires, or if the player who summoned them zones or logs out. *They are not lost if the master turns invisible. *They can receive all single-target buffs that their master is high enough in level to receive. *They die instantly if their master dies. *They do not leave corpses and thus cannot be looted. *They are valid targets for bane spells that only work on summoned creatures. Permanent pets exist in contrast to temporary pets and especially swarm pets, the latter of which do not use the pet window and disappear immediately at the end of the current fight or after a certain (usually brief) duration of time has passed. See Also *Permanent pet *Temporary pet *Extended Swarm